Daniel Cormier and Alex Pereira appear to have a good relationship, but the former used a strong word to describe the former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight champion.
Pereira found himself in a bit of a controversy this week when a post from his X account went viral. Pereira was seemingly addressing frustration, as the post implied he felt disrespected by not getting placement in the main event for UFC 317 this summer.
Hours after the post went viral, Pereira posted a video claiming he was hacked and that he never said any of those things. Cormier wasn’t buying it. On a recent episode of his Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast with Chael Sonnen, Cormier tore into Pereira’s claims of being hacked.
“Pereira is a liar,” Cormier exclaimed. “Pereira did not get hacked yesterday. Pereira might have tweeted something and then somebody called him and was like, “Yo, calm down. Let’s chill. I don’t believe the hack thing, bro. It’s too convenient. It was very unusual. It was too specific. He didn’t use profanity. It kind of sounded like Pereira.
When Sonnen expressed disbelief at Cormier’s bluntness, the Olympic medalist, former two-division UFC champion, and Hall of Famer doubled down on his take.
“I’m saying it,” Cormier said. “I’m saying it in public. I’m sorry. I’m saying it. I’m saying it in public.”
Cormier believes the beef stems from the UFC offering someone else the prime position on the UFC 317 card after he said he was unavailable to fight this summer.
“Remember, Chael, we still ain’t got a main event for International Fight Week,” Cormier said. “That’s a short period away. He goes, ‘What about you, Ankalaev? Are you available?’ Ankalaev’s like, ‘Okay, I can fight.’ Then you go to Pereira and say, ‘Pereira, are you available?’ Alex is like, ‘Well, it’s short time to get ready, right?’ ‘Okay, Alex, we’re going to give somebody else this title fight.’ That’s my thought. That’s what happens. So yes, while Hunter [Campbell] was in Dagestan, I think it was a two-for-one call, Chael. I think he spoke to Islam [Mekhachev], I think he spoke to Magomed [Ankalaev], and he spoke to Alex. I don’t know this as fact, but I know this game enough to put that together and feel pretty confident saying it on ESPN.”
For what it’s worth, Cormier isn’t the only person who doubted the validity of Pereira’s claims of being hacked. Several members of the MMA community took to social media in an attempt to poke holes in the UFC star’s explanation for the post.
In any case, we’re still waiting to hear who will headline UFC 317. If Pereira is on the sideline for UFC 317 and doesn’t have a choice spot sometime soon, it may further validate Cormier’s claims.
It’ll also be interesting to see what happens with Pereira and Cormier’s relationship. Even when accurate, it’s sometimes tough for a man to handle being labeled a liar.
In any case, next up for the promotion is UFC 315. The pay-per-view event takes place on Saturday, May 10, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Here is a look at the card and weigh-in results.
The card features two championship
UFC 315 Weigh-In Results (Official)
Date: May 10, 2025
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
Welterweight Title Bout:
Belal Muhammad (170 lbs) vs. Jack Della Maddalena (170 lbs)
Women’s Flyweight Title Bout:
Valentina Shevchenko (124 lbs) vs. Manon Fiorot (125 lbs)
Featherweight Bout:
José Aldo (143 lbs) vs. Aiemann Zahabi (142 lbs)
Originally scheduled as a bantamweight bout. Changed to featherweight due to Aldo’s weight-cut issues.
Women’s Flyweight Bout:
Alexa Grasso (126 lbs) vs. Natália Silva (126 lbs)
Lightweight Bout:
Benoît Saint Denis (156 lbs) vs. Kyle Prepolec (156 lbs)
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
Welterweight Bout:
Mike Malott (171 lbs) vs. Charles Radtke (171 lbs)
Women’s Flyweight Bout:
Jessica Andrade (126 lbs) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (124 lbs)
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Modestas Bukauskas (203 lbs) vs. Ion Cuțelaba (205 lbs)
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Navajo Stirling (205 lbs) vs. Ivan Erslan (205 lbs)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Middleweight Bout:
Marc-André Barriault (185 lbs) vs. Bruno Silva (187 lbs)*
Featherweight Bout:
Daniel Santos (146 lbs)** vs. Jeong Yeong Lee (146 lbs)
Bantamweight Bout:
Brad Katona (136 lbs) vs. Bekzat Almakhan (136 lbs)
